Jasper: where are all the bears?

We drove over Icefield parkway Jasper said to be one of the most beautiful drives in the world. Beautiful but when we arrived at scenic spots we often found quite a few people. Seemed odd to find this more in the Jasper area as it was becoming more remote. Perhaps the intermittent drizzle kept people away while we were in Banff. Also more French was spoken. Fun to see how easily Canadians slide from one language to the other.

Jasper hotels were also quite pricey (400 per night not uncommon and over 600 at the nicer places). In part I think because even 6 months ago many hotels were booked up. We were lucky to get a cute room in an air bnb. They had made clever use of ikea to create a tiny apartment with a separate entrance. Suited our needs perfectly with way less guilt when ordering at nice restaurants.

Everywhere there are warnings about bears. And reminders the elk are in rutting season. One night we had a wonderful dinner (best salad ever) and we got chatting with the couple next to us. I think the waitress wondered about us when Brant cut off a hunk of his weinschnitel to give the guy sitting next to us. (He had wanted to order). They told us how an elk had charged them that night on the way to the restaurant. Then we began sharing Wildlife photos. The waitress zipped over and said she could beat that! She pulled out her phone to show us a mama grizzly with her cubs in a large pine tree in her yard. Apparently they were nibbling on her Apple’s when discovered. You call a number and this person gets them out of the tree… how? She said they stayed in her tree for hours because bear removal man had to leave for an emergency. The Grizzly love the fruit trees so the city wants everyone to get rid of their fruit trees. There is a number you can call for free tree removal.

To be honest we were a bit disappointed with Maligne Canyon. Beautiful but a bit crowded. Perhaps at this point we had seen one too many waterfalls?

The boat ride to Spirit Island on Maligne lake was stunning though. Difficult to convey the beauty as always. It was fun listening to the stories of being there in the winter when it’s 50 below. (Thus explaining why so many Canadians in Mexico during the winter)

Our last day was a nice hike to Mt Edith Cavell. Though it was tshirt weather there were chunks of ice floating in the lake.

The food in Canada has been remarkably good. Most impressive have been the complex vegan dishes. Far more vegan dishes, and with more complex design, than anything I have seen in the US. Our last night here was a beautiful restaurant on a lake. We decided we deserved a nice dinner before settling into a 2 day train ride out to the coast.

Jasper had a different kind of beauty from the Banff. It seemed a bit more remote . While beautiful it did not have the stunning uniqueness of Banff. On the other hand it seemed more like a community. If we’d had a little more time we would have played pickleball.